14 1/2 Months Old

She seems so much older. She looks so much older. I feel Malachi is going to be very similar to Gabriel in the size department. Just large for her age. Here she is in a suitcase. Where babies should be. Happy and helping unpack my bag for me as I tried to pack my bag for a trip. I think she needs to stop growing, now if I could only find the freeze button on her...

Finger Painting 101

1. Lay down shower curtain

2. Get baby naked or down to diapers

3. Get sink bath ready

4. Show baby how it is done

5. Get her messy

6. Make hand prints on paper

7. Give baby paint brush

8. Let her go wild

9. Paint her feet for foot prints

10. Chase paint covered baby across kitchen

11. Clean baby in sink

12. Realize success in the fact that baby didn't eat paint-too much at least!

San Francisco

Cory bought a back carrier in California while I was having my last operation. He carted her all over the city, sightseeing from tour bus and walking fisherman's wharf. It was so wonderful to have both of them there with me during my recuperation. I healed very quickly from this surgery and was up and around rather fast. During this stay away from home we all took lots of naps and relished in the fact that it didn't rain until the last day of our stay. Malachi is turning out to be a complete ham when it comes to the camera. It's so excited to see her change from this solemn baby into a silly little girl.

Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Dishwater

This little girl gets a sink bath at least once a day. Usually after dinner. And sometimes after lunch. I had MANY photos of Gabriel in his high chair when he was a baby. With Malachi it's the kitchen sink. One of her favorite places, she gets to play with measuring cups, the turkey baster, spoons and bubbles. Her new favorite word that she'll speak. And her new favorite thing to do. I'll be nursing her and she'll pause, look up, smile and say, "Bubbles." Then she continue nursing, while I tell her, "Nursing time. You can play with bubbles later."

Time Is Going By Too Fast

With Gabriel I didn't realize how quickly the time past. Now with Malachi here only a year old I see just how true that is. With the combination of time and understanding I value each day with her. Only for a short bit longer will she be my baby.

Sweet as a Peach

Little Malachi Rose here wouldn't eat canned peaches to save her life. Every time I tried them out she would wave her arm across her high chair and "plop" they'd be on the floor. I decided I was done feeding the dog peaches and left it alone. Pears were her friend and good for her too. The fact that she was going through a can and a half a day was mildly alarming, but figured our baby wasn't in real danger of overdosing on fruit.

So when I had put her and a peach on the bed one afternoon I had no idea that she would nosh on it for close to fifteen minutes before I had to take it away from her slime/juice covered little hands/body. And quickly replace it with another whole peach. Turns out she just likes the good stuff.

Signing

It took me forever to see that she was actually doing it. Now looking back at videos we've taken, I think it was about a month before I noticed. The first time we saw her sign, there were LOTS of clapping and shouts. I'm a little surprised that she continued on! I got a baby sign language DVD to watch with her and that has helped a little. Not her, but me. I've been signing more and learning lots, I think my vocabulary is around fifty words now. Not much, but gaining. She is only up to twelve words. Gabriel, Cory and Guillermo all are beginning sign too. At heart she is a cave baby. Grunting and pointing is her favorite form of communication.

Signs she now uses on a daily basis:

More

Milk

Please

Food

Drink

Light

Fan

Yes

All done

No

Up

Dance

Telephone

Signs she knows and refuses to sign back:

Thank you

Help

Play

Sing

Little

Duck

Bird

Butterfly

Brother

Mama

Dada

Cup

Cat

Dog

Bubbles

Plane

Cupcake

Blast From Christmas Past: 2009

For Christmas this year Cory and I knew that seeing family wasn't going to happen. We wanted to stay in Oregon and spend the holidays in our new home. I thought a trip to The Meadows, a local ski resort here would be a fun activity for us all and may help cheer us all up. I rented a hotel room, ordered our tickets online and off we were to have a family vacation during the holidays. It was something I had never done before and was looking forward to it. Malachi stayed in the nursery for the first time and faired just fine. Cory and I were a little nervous the first day, but by the second and third day, we were okay. I was able to go and feed her when ever I needed to and the staff was great. The snowboarding and skiing on the other hand is a different tale. Learning in Utah I feel has been a great disservice. I'm spoiled when it comes to the snow. Gabriel loved taking boarding lessons and was so tired at the end of each day. The best part was snuggle time at the end of each day.

SOAKing North West Style

Some of you may know that our family went to SOAK, a regional Burning Man event here in Oregon, this past summer. The kids had a blast. The weather was beautiful! A little hot, but with a swimming hole on the property was a fast fix. The people we met-WOW! Fast friends and family friendly. I can't talk more about the location, in the woods and breathtaking. It was all so pleasant. Malachi got to wander all over in the woods, but the best part was watching her with Gabriel and Guillermo in her red rider wagon. I forgot to get pictures of that, but imagine her loaded into it with the canopy shading her and blankets piled in to cushion the ride. She would point and Guillermo would pull in the direction she wanted. The girl even had Gabriel holding her toys and bubbles. It was so great to see her leadership skills come out! It was so beautiful to be with my whole family for the burn.

This is the wonderful Nikki

Nikki was our nanny here at house Castillo-Tanner last year.

She is totally pimp and just a great girl all around.

We all liked her.

When Cory or I were not around, baby was totally 100% smitten with Nikki.

Here is our Little Bear Head before and after her pack-walk.

Nikki went to Spain and other parts of Europe for the summer.

We got Guillermo shortly after Nikki left.